Wed, Jul 15, 2009
Offering An Opportunity To Test Experiments In
Microgravity
NASA is offering undergraduate students an opportunity to test
experiments in microgravity aboard NASA's "Weightless Wonder"
aircraft. The opportunity is part of NASA's Reduced Gravity
Education Flight Program, which gives aspiring explorers a chance
to propose, design and fabricate a reduced gravity experiment.
Selected teams will get to test and evaluate their experiment
aboard NASA's reduced gravity airplane. The aircraft flies about 30
roller-coaster-like climbs and dips during experiment flights to
produce periods of weightlessness and hyper-gravity ranging from 0
g to 2 g.
"Today's students will be the ones going to the moon and beyond
to live, explore and work," said Douglas Goforth, the Reduced
Gravity Education Flight Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston."This project gives them a head start in
preparing for those future ventures by allowing them to conduct
hands-on research and engineering today in a truly reduced gravity
laboratory."
Proposals are due to NASA by Oct. 28. Interested students also
should submit a letter of intent by Sept. 16. This step is optional
but serves as an introductory notice that a team plans to submit a
proposal for the upcoming competition.
NASA will announce selected teams Dec. 9. They will fly in the
summer of 2010. Once selected, teams also may invite a full-time,
accredited journalist to fly with them and document the team's
experiment and experiences. All applicants must be full-time
students, U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old.
With this program, NASA continues its tradition of investing in
the nation's education programs. It is directly tied the agency's
education goal of strengthening NASA and the nation's future
workforce. Through this and other college and university programs,
NASA will identify and develop the critical skills and capabilities
needed to carry out its space exploration mission.
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